Never Forget, Never Let Go
by InsanityRunsInMyBlood
Summary: Slightly AU. WARNING: Character death  canon death, though .


"Somnio Infinitus Eternia!" Andromeda poured every negative emotion she had into the spell. All her fury, heartbrokeness, hatred, anguish, and pain were directed into the black jet of light which traveled toward her opponent, toward the spot right above her heart. She thought she saw her opponent's lips move to speak a spell, but she didn't know which. Then the spell hit, dead on.

The woman's eyes widened with shock and betrayal, but also with a bit of pride in them. She arched backwards gracefully, and hit the ground with a dull thud, her wand clattering to the ground next to her. Andromeda rushed over, tears starting to form in her eyes. She skidded to a halt on her knees, scraping them, but she didn't care a bloody single bit.

Her own wand dropped to the floor as well, lying next to the curved piece of walnut wood which she knew held a dragon's heartstring in it. An unheard of vicious Antipodean Opaleye. They were beautiful, and this female happened to be dangerous and wild, far surpassing any other dragon. In fact, according to Ollivander, this dragon could have fought a Hungarian Horntail with no problem at all. Trust Bella to get this wand—beautiful but brutal.

She held her sister's body in her arms, feeling the warmth that she knew would slowly drain away. The tears snaked down her cheeks, unrestrained, flowing fast and thick, blurring her eyes. Bella raised a heavy arm to wipe them away, but they just kept coming. Soon, Bella got tired and her arm dropped and she stopped wiping the tears. Andromeda wiped them off herself with her bloody sleeve. She knew she had condemned her sister to a fate worse than death, but she really couldn't have killed Bella. She never could—but she didn't understand why she used _that_ particular spell. It wasn't logical. It wasn't Andromeda. It wasn't right. It just wasn't…it just wasn't…it just wasn't! It should also be an Unforgivable. In fact, it should be the worst of them all. It was equal, if not worse, than a Dementor's kiss. At least when the Dementor died, the soul could pass on. With this…

This spell she cast—the eternal slumber spell, forces the recipient to sleep for an eternity. The mechanics behind the spell…they were cruel and meant to torture the person forever. The soul is trapped within the body while the heart stops. What's worse is that the brain will still be active, although the person wouldn't need food nor drink. He or she can still think, but cannot move, cannot make a sound. The person is, essentially, alive, but without a beating heart. However, the person is trapped within a marble body for eternity. This spell also has a stasis side-effect, preventing the body from disintegrating and decaying. It stops the soul from escaping, because if the body disintegrates, the soul will automatically go to the spirit world, if it was somehow trapped in the first place.

Andromeda felt like a murderer, even though she didn't actually kill anyone. No, this was worse than killing. Killing released a soul painlessly. This…this was unspeakable. It was truly the worst thing she could do.

"I never stopped loving you." A soft voice jarred her out of her morbid thoughts. She looked down at Bella who had a small smile on her face. A sad and small, sorrowful but sisterly smile. Andromeda felt her throat constrict. "I never stopped caring. I never stopped thinking about you. I never forgot our promises." Her elder sister whispered, feeling her strength drain away.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry." Andromeda rocked back and forth, terrified at the thought of spending forever alone, trapped, and unable to do anything, yet still conscious, which is exactly what she doomed her sister to. "So sorry…so sorry…" She appeared to be traumatized. A sharp poke from Bellatrix jerked her out of her trance again. She looked down, suddenly looking lost, scared, like a little puppy searching for its mother. She looked far from her age of forty-five. She looked about six, crying for her sister to comfort her, to guide her on, to hug her and whisper that everything is alright, that everything will be fine. Now…now, she wouldn't have an older sister anymore.

Guilt flooded her entire being and she slumped even lower.

"Listen…I know the spell you used…I knew what it would do…so I whispered the counterspell I found while searching in the dark arts books…" Bella smiled slightly, a triumphant glitter in her eyes.

Suddenly, the world righted itself. Andromeda felt the huge load of guilt and agony melt away at those words.

"You'll live?" The childish question burst out of her mouth before she could stop it. She sounded so happy and hopeful that Bella, for a moment, didn't want to tell her. In the end, she had to. It was better to let Andie cry it all out than to let her discover her sister had lied to her yet again, and lied on such an important matter as well.

"I'm sorry…" Bellatrix said as gently as possible, watching Andie's face fall and fill with hurt and despair.

"W-what do you mean?"

It was 'The Argument' all over again. Suddenly both of them were drawn back into a world of memories. Except for this time they've switched roles. Bella was the one hurting Andie, and not the other way around, like it was twenty-eight years ago.

"_You'll stay?" Bella's voice was childlike and hopeful. Andromeda looked down, biting her lower lip._

"_I'm sorry…" She whispered. Bella's expression was all of a sudden anguished and hurt._

"_W-what do you mean? You…you're not…you're not…you're…y-you're going? Going where? Where, Andie? Please…please don't leave! Don't leave me!" Bella stuttered brokenly, her large eyes glazing over. The younger of the two looked up with moisture shining in her own eyes. Violet met hazel and a wordless exchange took place. A battle of wills, a whirlwind of emotions._

_Suddenly the staring contest broke as one of them jerked away. It was Andromeda, who was feeling too much guilt to continue to stare into stormy amethysts which were full of betrayal and accusation._

"_I'm sorry, Bella. Please forgive me, sister." Andie whispered._

"_You're not my sister anymore." Bella spat. "You'll be burnt off the tree. You'll be eradicated! You'll be driven out of the family! A Mudblood, Andromeda Black? Oh, sorry, should I say—Tonks? Really? You choose him over the family? Over _me_?" Bellatrix shrieked. "Actually, I'll burn you off myself! Consider us strangers from now on, Tonks!" She yelled before storming out, leaving a sobbing Andromeda behind._

"The spell I cast…it's similar to a killing curse…except that it kills you slowly but still painlessly. I can feel myself slipping away as we speak." Bella's voice was indeed getting fainter.

"So…so…your soul will still go beyond?" Andromeda asked. Bella nodded almost imperceptibly, and Andromeda smiled despite her feeling of loss and tears.

"It will." Bella confirmed. Then she hesitated. Her eyelids drooped, and she quickly slurred out a few sentences. "You know…I never blasted you off. I wasn't even there to watch when Auntie did the so-called honours." She mumbled. "I would never bear to see that. I don't hate you…I love you, Andie. You know that, right? Will you remember me?" Her voice suddenly held a desperate quality in it.

"I know, Bella. I always knew, and I won't ever forget. I promise to always remember, Bella. I couldn't have forgotten you even if I wanted to, and I won't ever want to, either." Andromeda's voice broke at the end. "I promise…I promise…" She repeated hoarsely.

"With that promise, I guess I'll be going, then, little sis. I owe apologies to both Sirius and Regulus." Bellatrix said throatily. Andromeda cried, seeing that her sister would feel more at peace now, after leaving the mortal world. She cried at the fact that Bella would find more peace in death, as she was denied it in life. "Goodbye, Andromeda Tonks. Goodbye, Andie. I'll see you sometime in the future, then." Bellatrix murmured with a serene smile before closing her eyes, never to open them again.

Even though she knew what was coming, Andromeda still screamed in anguish. She screamed for all she was worth, but with Bella gone, she wasn't worth anything, so her screams were silent in the crisp morning air, but agonizingly loud at the same time, ripping time and space apart to let her love and emotions search for the departing soul of her sister, her best friend, her idol, her love, her Bella—and once she found her, she would hold on tight and she would never, ever, _ever_ let go.


End file.
